Combination-lock.



G. A. BERRY.

COMBINATION LOOK.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2, 1914.

1,121,458. Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

[NVENTOR tlorney A'HE NORRIS PETERS 50-. F'HOTOJJTHQ, WASHINGTON, '7

sa TEs PATENT onnio CHARLES A; BERRY, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE YALE & TOWN MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

COMBINATION-LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented D 15 1914 Application fi1ed J'u1y2, 1914. Serial No. 848,623.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES A. BERRY, of Stamford, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combination-Locks; and I do hereby declare the fol lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as' will enable others skilled in the art to'which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in combination locks, and it consists in the novel system of levers throughwhichv the dial may be connectedlwith the bolt for retracting the latter. In a lock of this sort, especially when used on a post oflice box, it is obviously desirable that when the combii nation has once been set .to unlock the box,

it should not, through inadvertence, be left in the set position, so that when the door has been slammed shut any unauthorized person could come along andby simply turning the knob open the box. The device herein shown makes certain of this disconnection by means of the lever system, and especially through the operation of the combinedbolt retractingand fence disconnecting lever, the operation being such that the disconnection occurs before the bolt even begins to be retracted, so that a disconnection does" not depend on theaction of the bolt but is positive, and an incident to the setting up and operation of the combination; I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in front-elevation showing. the lock applied to a post ofice box; Fig. 2 is a View in rear elevation of the same, showing the parts in the position they assume. when the tumblers and disk have been set into position for retracting the bolt; Fig. 3 1s a view showing thebolt retracted; Fig. 4 is'a view 9 is a view of the cam and Figs. 10 and 11 are views of the disk tumblers.

In the drawing I have shown the improvement in connection with the door of a post office box. This door 1 carries a dial 2, through which the spindle 3 of knob 8 passes, and isprovided with an inwardly pro ect1ng integral sleeve 4:in which the knob spindle is mounted. The disk tumblers 5 are mounted to rotate onthe sleeve 4:, and'the cam 6 is secured by screw 7 to the outer end ofthe spindle 3, and turns with the latter, and operates to rotate the tumblers in the well known manner. The

cam 6 and tumblers 5, are of approximately tongue 9 of the fence lever 10 enters after.

the tumblers have been set up to the proper combination to retract the bolt. Fence. lever 10 is pivotally mounted on a stud on the fencelever carrier 11, which is. pivotally mounted on stud 12 on the inner face of the door 1, and is provided with a bent end 13, slotted to receive the free end of springql4, which latter tends to normally hold the tongue 9 in contact with the peripheries of the tumblers and cam. Lever carrier 11v is provided with ,a spring 15 which tends to normally hold the free end of the carrier away from the tumblers, its movement. away from the tumblers being limited bythe fixed stop 16.

tongue 18, which rests in a position to eni gage'pin 19 carried by the bolt, so as to. re- I face with the stud 20," on which the combined bolt retracting and fence disconnecting le ver 21 is mounted- This lever is provided tract the latter,-and is provided'on its rear if with a hook 22, adapted to take under the pin '23 on cam 6, and with a spring 24, the

free end of which bears against the'sidewall of lever 17 and tends to carry the hook 212 on'lever 21 away from pin 23.

Lever 21 normally rests on tongue 9 of fence lever 10, and the latter is, as before explained, held in contact with the peripheries of the tumblers and also the cam I if the latter be of the same diameteras the tumblers, by the spring 14. When the tongue 9 of lever 10 is bearing againstthe periphery of any one or more ofthe tumblers, the spring 24: holds lever 21 out of the path ofmovement'of the pin 23on cam 6, thus permitting the cam and tumblers. to be freely rotated without moving any of the levers, and consequently without moving the bolt. If now the tumblers and cam be set up by proper manipulation of the knob, so as to bring the notches 8 in the cam and tumblers into alinement-with tongue 9 on lever 10, the latter will be moved by its spring 14:, in a direction to carry its tongue 9 into the notches 8 and as the free end of the lever 21 rests on said tongue 9, it also will be carried upwardly toward the axis of the cam and tumblers, and into the path of movement of pin 23 on the cam 6, as shown in Fig. 2, which is the position'of the parts after the tumblers and cam have been set up i by the knob and dial to unlocking position.

. rection to retract the bolt.

If when the lever 21 is in engagement'with the pin 23 on the cam, the knob be turned to the left (looking at the door from the front), the pin 28will drag the lever'21 and the boltoperating lever 17 to the right. The

movement of lever 17, owing to the engagement of its tongue 18 with pin 19 on the bolt will carry the latter to the right, or in a di- As the cam 6 is rotated in a direction to retract the bolt, the in 23 is moved downwardly, and actingon the lever 21, forces it downwardly until it has-covered the notches 8, and forced the tongue 9 of fence lever 10 into the plane of the periphery of the cam, thus freeing the cam and tumblers from the lever 21 and permitting themto be rotated by the knob.

As soon as the tongue 9 is released or forcedout of the notches in the" tumblers and cam, theilevers 1 0 and 11. are forced to the left by spring 15,.thus removing the possibility of'a fsecond operation without first resetting the fnism and the bolt.

tumblers on the proper combination; Further rotation of the disk 6 to the left drags {the levers 21 and 17 to the left and the .tongue 18 on the lever 17, engaging with pin 19 onthe bolt, retracts the latter.

As soon as the tension is released from knob 8 'the lever 21' is carried out of connection with pin 23 by spring 24- and levers 21 and 17 are both carried to the leftby the projection of the bolt, thus removing all connection between the operating mecha- In order to retard the rotation of the knob, a'nd hold it with its pointer j in line with anyone of the dial numbers I have provided the latter with a series of sockets 27 and'the knob 3 with a spring pressed pin 28, located within a reprojects sufficiently to be engaged by the tongue 18 on lever 17. The head 29 is provided with an elongated slot through which pin 19 passes so as to permit the headto be retracted, as in closing the door, without necessarily forcing the shank rearwardly. The rear end of the shank is mounted in a socket 32 formed integral with the door and is backed up by a spring which tends to force the shanktowardthe head, but which givestor yields to permit of the necessary rearward movement of the shank when the latter is forced rearwardly by tongue 18 on lever 17. i

In the operationof the lock the tumblers are set by first turning the knob say to the right, and stoppingat the proper number then to the left stopping at another number, then to theright stopping at anothernmnher, and then slowly to the left. Afterthe knob pointer has been set to the third num ber of the combination, the tongue 9 of lever 10 enters the notches 8 in the tumblers and cam. By now slowly turning the knob to the left, lever 21 which is nowhooked to pin 23 on cam 6 is moved downwardly and acts as a cam to force the tongue 9 oflever 10 out of the notches, after which spring '15 shifts levers 11 and 10 to the left." Acon- 1 tinned rotation of the knob to the left drags lever 21 with it, and the latter in turn pulling onlever 17 brings tongue 18 of the latretracts the latter. After the bolthas been i ter into contact w1th'p1n 19 on the bolt and fully'retracted, a further turning movement of the knob is prevented by the lower end of I pin 19 coming in contact with the projecting stop X on the door, and the-door opened. As theknob is let go, the tension of pin 23 "upon lever 21 is released and spring 2.4 will disengage -21 from-the pin 23and levers and-'21 will be carried-to their normal position through the projectionofthe bolt by means of pin '19. In this look the fence lever 10 is disengaged from the tumblers prior to the retraction of the bolt, and the b'oltis then retracted by a continued rotation of the knob.

It is evident that many slight changes might be resorted to in the relative arransw ment of parts shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope ofmy invention.

Hence I would have it understood that I do not wish to confinemyself to the exact construction and arrangement of parts shown and'describecl but, I

Having'fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters-Patent, is

1.- In a combination lock, combination of a bolt, tumblers, a cam, a fence to engage the tumblers and a disconnecting lever which engages the-.cam'when the com bination is set, and which when the cam is rotated for unlocking, automatically dis engages the fence from-the tumblers." 2. In a combination lock, the combination of a bolt, bolt operating lever, tumblers, a cam, a fence to engage the tumblers and'a disconnecting lever which engages with the cam when the combination is set, and which when the cam is rotated for unlocking, automatically engages the fence and disconnects it from the cam andthen acts upon ghe bolt operating lever to withdraw the olt.

5. The combination with a knob, and disk tumblers and cam actuated by the knob, the said cam having a pin projecting from its rear face, of a bolt, alever having a hook to engage the pin on the cam the said hook being normally out of the path of movement of the pin, spring actuated devices for moving said hook mto the path of move ment of the pin and means for'connecting said lever with the bolt actuating means movement of said lever.

6. The combination With-a knob and disk tumblers and cam actuated by the knob, the

said tumblers each having anotch in its edge, of a bolt, a lever adapted to beengaged by the cam' and a spring actuated fence adapted to enter the notches in the tumblers and move said lever into engagement with the cam. v

7. The combination witha tumblers and cam actuated by the knob, -th.e said tumblers each having a notch in its periphery and the camhaving a projection, of a bolt, a lever adapted to engage the projection on the cam and be actuatedthereby, and a spring actuated fence adapted to enter the notches in the tumblers and move 3. The combination with a knob and disk tumblers and cam actuated by the knob, of

knob, and disk said lever into position where it will be engaged by the projection on the cam. 8. The combination with a-knob, disk tumblers and cam actuated by the knob, the

said tumblers each having a notch in its periphery and the cam having a project1on, of a bolt, a lever normally out; of contact with the projection on the cam, and a spring actuated fence adapted to enter the notches in thetumblers and lift said lever into position to {be engaged by the projec tion on the cam, the said fence being removed from the notches in the tumblers by a cam action of the lever, prior to the bolt retracting movement of the latter.

9. The combination with a knob and disk j tumblers and cam, the said tumblers each having a notch in its edge and the cam provided with a projection, of a bolt, a lever normally out of contact with the projection on the cam, and a fence lever normally in contact with the tumblers and adapted when it enters the notches in the latter to lift said first mentioned lever into position-to be en gaged by the projection on the cam.

10. The combination with a door, a knob, disk tumblers and cam the tumblers each having anotch in its edgeand the cam having a rearwardly projecting pin, of a bolt, a

bolt engaging lever; pivoted to the door, a

combined bolt retracting and fence disconnecting lever carried bythe bolt engaging lever, a spring for normally holding said whereby the bolt will be retracted by the combined bolt retracting and fence disconnecting lever out of the path'of'movement of the pin on the cam, a fence lever carrier, a fence lever pivotally mounted onthe latter and under the cam engaging lever, and.

specification in the'presence of two subscribing wltnesses.

. CHARLES A. BERRY. Witnesses: c

- EVERETT W. LYON,

HAROLD S. WISDOM.

Copies of this patent may-be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

